ENCODE/PLAYBACK INSTRUCTIONS:
To run this movie, a version of the SWF that runs properly offline is required. The one from
http://kenny.next-era.net/mlp8bit.zip this link syncs properly with the movie.
Then, run the SWF from wtihin the folder with the arguments
"-g gl", "--no-gui".
This TAS was created on a computer setup with two 1920x1080 displays connected side by side, with the right display set as the primary display. The movie may not sync properly if the display setup is different.
This movie will only sync if openH264 is NOT installed in Ruffle, due to the lag-frames at the beginning affecting the timing of inputs in the movie.
Adventure Ponies is a platformer game developed by Splashworks and published on the Hubworld website on May 2012. Based on a promotional video from the Hub Network, you play as your favourite pixel ponies and defeat many popular bosses from the My Little Pony cartoon!
The goal of this TAS is to complete all 6 levels with all 6 characters.
Characters
A quick rundown of each character’s movesets:
- Twilight Sparkle can use teleporters, and has a “laser” attack which has long range, but weak attack power.
- Rainbow Dash can fly, and has a “dash” attack that propels her very fast horizontally, damaging whatever she collides with.
- Applejack can use ladders, and has a “kick” attack with strong attack power, but neccessitates having to rotate the character to attack, because she kicks from behind.
- Pinkie Pie can use ladders, and attacks with “Party Cannon”, which is similar to Twilight Sparkle’s laser, except that it originates lower on the character’s body.
- Rarity plays identically to Twilight Sparkle.
- Fluttershy can fly, and has a “Stare” attack that damages anything in front of her, similar to Applejack’s kick.
Levels
Each level’s layout is configured differently depending on the type of character played, to allow them to navigate the level properly. Earth ponies get ladders, unicorns get teleporters, and pegasi get neither, due to them having a native flying ability.
When jumping on the semi-solid cloud platforms, I short the height of my jump so that the height of the jump ends with the pony clipped into the cloud, and causing them to clip above the platform to stand on it. This allows me to gain vertical height slightly faster.
Start
As soon as the run begins, I type in the “CELESTIA” cheat code to unlock all the characters, and play as Rainbow Dash first. This is crucial to save time with Twilight Sparkle and Rarity later in the run.
Level 4 Spike Tunnel
Level 4 has a tunnel lined with spikes that is only intended to be used for the Pegasi to fly through. I make all the non-pegasus ponies go through it anyway by damage boosting on the spikes, which bypasses going under the stage as per the intended route.
Level 6 Damage Boost
The layout of Level 6 is very slow and long-winded. By impaling myself on a spike at the start of the level, I can phase through the ground and skip most of the level by flying under it as a pegasus. I make sure to clip into the wall and land on a bit of the floor first, because taking damage incapacitates the pegasus’ flying ability for a short period.
Teleporters
The teleporters that appear in unicorn levels are a bit broken.
Each one has a square hitbox that extends far above the actual teleporter’s sprite, allowing me to teleport earlier by falling onto it at high speeds. This can be seen in Level 2, where I clip into a wall to access the pink teleporter early, skipping the green teleporter.
On certain levels, by pre-loading a different level with a non-unicorn pony, which does not have teleporters in it, the teleportation points in the level become glitched, allowing the unicorns to wrong warp and skip large sections of levels. This is the reason that starting with Rainbow Dash was necessary, because it allows me to perform this glitch on both unicorns. Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to, I was not able to make this viable on Level 6.
Iron Will
Iron Will has glitched behaviour where if attacks are chained with the correct timing, he floats in the air and does not resume attacking. This allows most characters to defeat him in one cycle, skipping the long sections of invulnerability between attacks.
Because Pinkie Pie’s cannon attack originates lower on her body, she cannot kill Iron Will in one cycle unlike the unicorns. Instead, I lure him to a lower step on the stage and attack from there, allowing me to hit him more with Pinkie’s limited height. For a similar reason, I move to the left side of the level when fighting the Hydra as Pinkie Pie.
Discord
Discord attacks by firing three fireballs, and then jumping. He is vulnerable to attacks when he is jumping, and when he shoots his first fireball. By landing an attack at the same time he shoots the first fireball, I can damage boost through the second one and jump over the third one, I can then land a second hit on him as soon as he jumps. By repeating this five times with the unicorns and Pinkie Pie, I can defeat Discord with just one hit remaining on my character.
Other Stuff
Some RTA runs of this game use a glitch that allows the bosses to be damaged before they appear on screen. However, because this glitch requires the boss area to be pre-loaded before the timer begins, it is far too slow and unviable to use in this TAS, which starts from a blank save.
